Conjugating the Irregular Spanish Verb Salir (to Go Out/Leave)

Spanish verbs fall into different groups, and each group is conjugated a little differently. If you’re going to master Spanish verbs like salir, you need to be able to identify which group a verb belongs to: regular (follows regular conjugation rules for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs), stem-changing (morphs depending on how you use it in a sentence), spelling-changing (has consonant-spelling changes in some forms to follow pronunciation rules), or reflexive (reflects the action back on the subject of the sentence).

In the present tense, salir(sah-leer) (to go out/leave) has an irregular yo form, but otherwise it conjugates like a regular -ir verb. Here’s the present tense conjugation:

The Present Tense of Salir

Conjugation

Translation

yo salgo

Igo out

tú sales

You(informal)go out

él/ella/ello/uno sale

He/she/onegoes out

usted sale

You (formal)go out

nosotros salimos

Wego out

vosotros salís

Youall (informal)go out

ellos/ellas salen

Theygo out

ustedes salen

You all (formal)go out

The following examples show you salir in action:

¿Salen ustedes a caminar? (Are you going out to walk?)

Si. Salimos a caminar ahora. (Yes. We are going out to walk now.)

Salir conjugates normally in the preterit and imperfect tenses. Take a look at the following tables and examples:

The Preterit Tense of Salir

Conjugation

Translation

yo salí

Iwent out

tú saliste

You (informal)went out

él/ella/ello/uno salió

He/she/onewent out

usted salió

You (formal)went out

nosotros salimos

Wewent out

vosotros salisteis

You all (informal)went out

ellos/ellas salieron

Theywent out

ustedes salieron

You all (formal)went out

You use the preterit tense like this:

Ellos salieron anteayer. (They left the day before yesterday.)

Yo salí de mi casa el martes. (I left my house on Tuesday.)

The Imperfect Tense of Salir

Conjugation

Translation

yo salía

I used togo out

tú salías

You (informal) used togo out

él/ella/ello/uno salía

He/she/one used togo out

usted salía

You (formal) used togo out

nosotros salíamos

We used togo out

vosotros salíais

You all (informal) used togo out

ellos/ellas salían

They used togo out

ustedes salían

You all (formal) used togo out

Here are some examples of the imperfect tense:

¿Salían ustedes a caminar? (Did you use to go out for a walk?)

Sí. Salíamos a caminar todos los días. (Yes. We used to go out for a walk every day.)

Salir has an irregular stem (saldr-)in the future tense, but it does use the normal future endings:

The Future Tense of Salir

Conjugation

Translation

yo saldré

I willgo out

tú saldrás

You (informal) willgo out

él/ella/ello/uno saldrá

He/she/one willgo out

usted saldrá

You (formal) willgo out

nosotros saldremos

We willgo out

vosotros saldréis

You all (informal) willgo out

ellos/ellas saldrán

They willgo out

ustedes saldrán

You all (formal) willgo out

The following samples put the future tense to work:

Nosotros saldremos temprano mañana. (We will leave early tomorrow.)

María saldrá a visitar a sus amigas. (María will go visit her friends.)